For the second straight year, Oscar Robertson and
Cincinnati ran into California in the Final Four semifinals and lost. This time,
they were both No.1 when they metCincy in the AP poll, Cal according to UPI.
The Golden Bears beat the Bearcats, 7769, and the Big O ended his college
career with three scoring titles, three Player of the Year awards, and no NCAA
title.

Cal, now in position to join Oklahoma A&M, Kentucky and
San Francisco as the NCAA's only repeat champions, advanced to the championship
game against No.3 Ohio State. It shaped up as a classic final: OSU's No.1
offense (90.5 ppg) vs Cal's No.1 defense (49.5 ppg). All-America sophomore Jerry
Lucas of the Buckeyes vs. All-America senior Darrall Imhoff of the Bears in the
pivot.

Ohio State shot 68.4 from the field and won basketball's
version of the Rose Bowl (Big 10 vs AAWU) by 20 points. The Buckeyes' sophomore
center Jerry Lucas was named the outstanding player in the tournament, the first
time since 1956 that the MVP award went to a member of the championship team.

In New York, No.4 Bradley won its second NIT title, beating
14th-ranked Providence, 8872 in the final. The losing Friars did have the
tourney MVP, however, in guard Lenny Wilkens. And for the second year in a
row, Mississippi State won the SEC championship and declined to play in the
integrated NCAA tournament.

They formed the best and the brightest recruiting class in Ohio State
basketball history. As freshmen, they routinely scored 100 points or more in a
restricted schedule, and twice they defeated the varsity in closed scrimmages.

It was by no means unusual for thousands to stream out of St. John Arena
after the preliminary game even as the varsity was about to take on a Big Ten
Conference opponent.

Foremost among the newcomers was Jerry Lucas, a 6-foot-8 center who had led
Middletown High School to two Ohio championships. His team's only loss in three
years was a one-point decision to Columbus North in his final game. Such was his
good fortune, however, that he made the acquaintance of a Columbus North
cheerleader who would later become his wife.

In addition to being an excellent shooter, Lucas was a skilled passer and
superb rebounder particularly adept at starting the fast break. He rarely shot
when it wasn't for the good of the team, was unfailingly polite and had been a
straight-A student in high school.

Lucas' priorities were such that he sought and received an academic
scholarship rather than a basketball grant. Lucas said he chose Ohio State
because it was the only major school to stress education in its recruiting
pitch.

"All the others talked only about basketball," he said.

The youngster had a photographic mind that enabled him to commit anything
that interested him to memory. Lucas could recount how many telephone poles
there were to a mile on the highway, how many steps he had to climb in the
dormitory and each classroom building and all the cards that had been played in
a hand. He could recite a long list of numbers, forward and backward.

"About the only time he did study," said John Havlicek, his
roommate, "was the night before an exam. Then he'd stay up all night and
wind up with a great mark."

In his freshman year, in the College of Commerce, Lucas took 50 percent more
than the normal workload and averaged just below a straight-A.

Lucas would have been the centerpiece of whatever program he joined. But he
was only one of several all-stars in his class at Ohio State. Havlicek, a
scholastic football talent, was a 6-5 forward who excelled on defense.

Mel Nowell was a 6-2 guard with extraordinary offensive gifts. Gary Gearhart
and Bob Knight both had been exceptional scorers in high school.

It didn't take coach Fred Taylor long to realize the future did not lie with
the nucleus of the 1959 Ohio State team, his first varsity squad. That year he
installed an offense to take advantage of Lucas' abilities, even though he
wouldn't be available until the following season.

"We put in the whole kit and caboodle," the coach conceded later.
"The boys learned the offense just the way we were going to play it with
Lucas in 1960."

Lucas was an instant starter in his sophomore year, and Nowell also earned a
starting berth alongside junior Larry Siegfried in the backcourt. Although
Havlicek didn't start his first varsity game, he replaced an injured player in
that game and remained in the lineup thereafter. The fifth starter was forward
Joe Roberts, a senior.

After early-season losses at Utah and Kentucky, the Buckeyes tore through the
Big Ten. They compiled a 13-1 conference record, losing only to Indiana (a team
they had edged earlier in the season).

The league title meant an automatic berth in the 1960 NCAA Tournament. It was
the school's first NCAA appearance since 1950 when, with Fred Taylor at center,
Ohio State was defeated by eventual champion City College of New York by a
single point.

"We immediately developed almost total communication on the floor,"
Havlicek said. "Our basketball intellects meshed perfectly. We never had to
call a play. The offense was geared on keys and movement. You never saw us
running down the floor holding up two or three fingers, or heard us calling out
plays."

Lucas threw the outlet pass as well as anyone in basketball, and the Buckeyes
were able to overwhelm many of their opponents with the fast break. They moved
the ball without excessive dribbling and rarely took a bad-percentage shot. In
fact, Lucas led the nation in 1960 with 63.7 percent field-goal accuracy.

Ohio State was ranked third nationally preceding the NCAA Tournament,
trailing only Oscar Robertson's Cincinnati team and defending national champion
California. (The Bearcats were ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press; Cal headed
the United Press International poll.)

There was little suspense in any of the four regionals. The Buckeyes battered
Western Kentucky, 98-79, and Georgia Tech, 86-69, in the Mideast to qualify for
the Final Four in San Francisco. Cincinnati and California also won handily in
the Midwest and Far West, respectively. The three top clubs were joined by New
York University, surprise conqueror of West Virginia and Duke in the East
Regional.

NYU was no match for Ohio State in the first national semifinal at the Cow
Palace. The Violets were nervous at the outset and never found their composure.
They bowed, 76-54, in a game that impressed few in the crowd.

Cincinnati and Cal staged a significantly better game in the second half of
the doubleheader. The Bearcats, expecting to reverse their semifinal loss to Cal
the previous year, opened a 20-11 lead midway through the first half. But the
Golden Bears seized the advantage before halftime and held on in the second
half.

Two baskets by Earl Shultz following Bearcats errors in the closing two
minutes sealed the 77-69 victory and thwarted Robertson in his final attempt at
winning an NCAA title. The Big O had to settle for a third consecutive scoring
title as a memento of his last collegiate season.

The final attraction pitted the national leaders in offense and defense. Ohio
State averaged 90.4 points per game. Playing just across the Bay from Berkeley
and appearing in the NCAA championship game for a second consecutive year, the
Golden Bears were favored.

Cal had lost three starters from the 1959 title team, but 6-10 center Darrall
Imhoff had developed into a consensus All-American, 6-4 junior Bill McClintock
was a fine rebounder and the entire team exercised the self-restraint demanded
by Pete Newell.

There appeared to be no team in America better suited to combat Ohio State
than California, which had won 28 of 29 games. The Buckeyes were 24-3.

Such was Newell's reputation for defense that Taylor had sought his advice
the previous summer.

"My team last year had the worst defensive record in Ohio State's
history," Taylor said of a club that yielded 122 points in one game and
more than 90 points in four others. "I had to do something, and Pete's the
best in the business at this. I asked him to help me and he did. He showed me
everything. He confirmed some of my ideas and he gave me the courage to try
things I was afraid were too radical.

So smooth and efficient was the Buckeyes offense that Ohio State rarely was
credited with good defense. But on the night of the championship game, the
Buckeyes played superbly at both ends of the court. In the first half, they took
19 shots and hit a remarkable 16. Lucas sank 5-of-6, Havlicek 2-of-4 and the
other three starters -- Roberts, Nowell and Siegfried -- made a combined 9-of-9
attempts.

Just as impressive, the Buckeyes held Cal to a shooting mark below 30
percent. Imhoff, who had scored 25 points in the victory over Cincinnati, was
shackled by Lucas inside. The score at halftime was 37-19.

Cal fans were accustomed to their team falling behind, although not by this
margin. Still, the Bears' press was a potent weapon, and Newell unleashed it at
the start of the second half. The defending champions did cut into the deficit,
outscoring Ohio State 10-5 and suggesting the possibility of a memorable
comeback. But no sooner had the hope been raised than it was crushed by the
Buckeyes.

There was an open man or two on the floor and Ohio State began to exploit the
situation. The mismatches enabled the Buckeyes to roll up a 20-point lead.
Taylor began sending in reserves with five minutes left. All five regulars
scored in double figures, topped by Lucas' 16 points, and the starters sank 75
percent of their floor shots (27-of-36).

Cal never was able to run its offense, to display the patience for which it
was famous. Imhoff scored only eight points, and none of the Bears had more than
11.

"I used many of Pete's ideas," Taylor said after the Buckeyes'
75-55 triumph, "and they paid off for us tonight."

The defeat marked the last game as Cal coach for Newell, who was retiring to
become the school's athletic director. But he did have the satisfaction that
summer of coaching the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in Rome. The stars of
that team included Lucas and Pobertson.